Russian energy exports are enjoying a boom, based on sustained demand from Asian markets, that highlights how critical it is for the country to invest about $100 billion to expand and improve the sector, IEA Chief Economist Fatih Birol said in an interview in Moscow. He also noted, "The most important thing for Russia is to try and use energy much more efficiently."

The IEA will canvass ideas for its regulatory recommendations about unconventional extraction of shale gas, including so-called fracking, at a workshop it is organising for March 7, 2012, in Warsaw. The recommendations will be issued in a study report in May, as an excerpt from the IEA’s annual flagship publication, the World Energy Outlook, that comes out in November. IEA Chief Economist Fatih Birol said governments must address serious environmental problems that include water pollution and methane-gas venting linked to production and extraction of unconventional gas. “We hope the G-20 will consider the [regulatory] recommendations during their deliberations in Mexico this year and discuss what can be done to address these challenges,” he said. He added that new regulation based on the recommendations may give a slight increase in the cost of production, but the good news is that existing technology can minimize or completely address these real environmental problems.”

IEA Executive Director Maria van der Hoeven reiterated that she welcomes statements by key Gulf producers that they will continue to meet existing and any incremental demand from their customers. Speaking in Davos during the World Economic Forum, she also highlighted the IEA’s estimates for oil demand this year, noting that the Agency’s different scenarios are predicated on global growth rates.